London Living Wage Small Businesses

Susan Hall: How many small and micro businesses are there in London and of these how have signed up to the London Living Wage?

The Mayor: There are 512,000 small and micro businesses in London.
1288 employers headquartered in London are accredited Living Wage employers with Living Wage Foundation. That is 69 per cent of the total Living Wage accredited employers in the capital. In this respect, small and micro employers are leading the way on the fair pay agenda.

London and Partners

Caroline Pidgeon: The most recent minutes for the London and Partners Board that are published online are from June 2019. Is this a level of accountability and transparency that you are satisfied with?

The Mayor: New L&P transparency requirements were agreed following the 2016 review of their relationship and governance arrangements with GLA. These included the publication of their board minutes.
L&Ps board minutes should be published and up to date on their website. The omission of the latest board minutes was an error. L&P will ensure minutes are available after each subsequent board meeting once they are signed off by board members. L&Ps board minutes are available online here: https://www.londonandpartners.com/about-us/our-board

Economic Development Strategy

Susan Hall: What have you done to “influence business behaviour in line with this [economic development, 2017] strategy”?

The Mayor: I am committed to listening to business voices to refine my policies and continually seek to influence business behaviour for the good of all Londoners. This is accomplished through regular meetings with my Business Advisory Board and the LEAP Board, as well as the continued work of my promotional agency London & Partners.
I launched my Good Work Standard which is focused on influencing businesses to make our workplaces fairer and more inclusive. Over 200,000 London employees are now covered. In addition, a number of policy-specific groups have been convened to channel expertise into all relevant thinking at City Hall such as the Mayor’s Brexit Expert Advisory Panel, the Mayor’s London Food Board, the Skills for Londoners Taskforce and the Infrastructure High Level Group.